Faith at Work
by crazywriterchick1997
Summary: Zander and Stevie are normal 18 year-olds who have never met. Stevie is from a small town in Ireland (I know, Iknow how did she end up there, well I'm Irish so...) whereas Zander grew up is the bustling city of New York. But when faith makes them meet, in a weird place... what will happen between the two? Zander/Stevie, Nelson/Grace and Kevin/Kacey. My first story so please read!
1. Chapter 1

I walked into the small, yet packed cafe. I waved to Jeanne behind the counter, before turning my attention back to the two 'munchkins' infront of me. I ushered them into our regular booth-style table before walking up to the counter. I had been living with the Savonne family as an au pair for the past seven months, and it had become ritual to bring the two kids to the cafe to do their 'devoirs' seening as there was no room in the apartment.

As I approached the counter, Jeanne gave me a huge smile and looked releived. She had become my closest friend over here, often helping me out with the two girls, and in return I sometimes helped her out in the cafe and covered for her if she got sick or anything. "Dieu merci, vous êtes là, je ne sais pas quoi faire! Je ne le comprends pas du tout" she said pointing to the chestnut-haired man standing before her. He turned, following Jeanne's gaze, before smiling at me sheepishly. "Pourquoi ai-je toujours besoin de traduire pour vous quand il s'agit d'un client parlant anglais? Vous avez besoin d'apprendre quelques notions d'anglais!" I say, before turning to face the man. He's barely a man, and looks no older than nineteen. I sigh before speaking up. "Um, excuse me, but she doesn't really seem to understand what your saying. If you tell me what you want to order, I'll translate it for you." I say, giving him a customer friendly smile that is quite rare in France.

He just stares at me astounded for a minute before shaking his head and answering. "Thanks, and em, I'de like to get a coffee and one of those pastry things." He said pointing to a row of freshly baked treats. I smiled and turned back to Jeanne. "Une cafe au lait, et un tarte au citron, sil vous plaits." I look back down at the display unit, and decide to buy the girls a treat each seening as it's Friday. "Et, puis-je avoir deux éclairs pour rosie et cloe ainsi?" I say, picking up three juice boxes. "Oui, et oui, et merci beaucoup pour ta aide!" Jeanne says before turning to prepare the orders. I walk past the man and make my way back to the booth, dropping off the juices before going back for the tarts and to pay, of course.

As I walked back up to the counter, fishing through my bag for my wallet, just as I find it, and go to pull my money out, a hand stops me. I look up and see the same man standing there, grinning down at me. "You helped me out, the least I can do is pay for your order, I mean it's not everyday I get to buy a pretty girl a drink." He says, flashing me a smile that I swear could make your insides melt. I felt my cheeks start to blush at his comment. "You dont have to do that, it's not anything special, Jeanne makes me do it with any foreigner who comes into the shop, she's not that great with languages." I realise that I'm rambling, and quickly go back to the origional topic. " And besides, there are three portions I'm paying for," I say pointing back to my table, where Rosie and Cloe are trying to stab their juice boxes with their straws. He laughs at the sight, and I just bite my lip. "No, I insist, and anyway, my friends will be very jealous when I tell them that I paid for not one, but three very pretty ladies' drinks. So in reality, you'de actually be doing me a favour." Damn he's good. I nod my head in defeat, before gratiously taking the food. "Well, thank you. I'm Stevie, by the way, and the two little munchkins you just bought juice boxes for, are Rosie and Cloe." I say, pointing out each girl. "Well, it's nice to meet you Stevie,I'm Zander." He says, looking me straight in the eyes were a beautiful golden brown, matching his hair. God, this guy was cute.

I smiled up at him before turning to walk over to the girls. They had now moved onto their homework, but it was forgotten once I arrived with their treats. "Merci, merci" they both spoke at the same time, creeping me out a little. I sat down opposite the two, and was surprised when I felt someone sit down on the cushion beside me. This person obviously didn't understand the meaning of personal space, as their thigh gently brushed against mine, practically sitting on my lap. I looked up to see Zander, a huge grin plastered on his face. "So, what brings you to this little cafe on a Friday afternoon?" he asks me, his face now very close to my own. " Well, I actually come here every afternoon, I bring the girls here to do their homework, since there's no room in their apartment." I say, looking him staight in the eyes. "So what, are you their older sister or something?" he asks, slightly confused. I giggled a little (giggled? I never giggle!), before answering. "No, I'm their au pair, or nanny. I've lived with the family for the past seven months, but I'm actually Irish, hence the accent." I say, pouring the contents of the juice box into a glass. We stayed talking for what felt like hours, learning more about eachother. I learned that he was 19, from New York, and was in France with his friends, for a music festival, and were here for a week. I also learned that he had a passion for music. Piano, guitar, key-tar and ukulele all being in his repittoire. I told him that I was from outside Dublin, and had just finished my Leaving Cert, taking a year out before going to University. I also told him that I played bass, piano, acoustic guitar and ukulele. At this he decided to make me proove myself, pulling a ukulele out from his bag, claiming he had never met anyone par himself who could play the ukulele. I took the ukelele from him, before strumming the chords to the song that had been stuck in my head all day. I closed my eyes after a while and began to sing along quietly.

"Don't you worry there my honey,

We may not have any money

But we've got our love to pay the bills"

My eyes shot open when I heard a voice singing the next lines

"Maybe I think you're cute and funny

and maybe I wanna do what bunnies do

With you if you know what I mean"

I smiled before singing along with him

"Let's get rich and buy our parents homes in the South of France,

Let's get rich and give everybody nice sweaters and teach them how to dance

Let's get rich and build a house on a mountain making everybody look like ants

Way up there, you and I, you and I"

I stopped playing the ukelele, and looked up at Max. He was smiling down at me making my insides melt. I handed him his ukelele and I swear I saw him start to lean in slightly. I started leaning in as well, but snapped back to reality when I heard Rosie and Cloe applauding. I smiled at them before taking a quick glance at Zander. He was smiling, and there was a hint of red in his cheeks. "You have an amazing voice you know." I snapped my head up and looked at him. "Hardly, and what about you, you sounded amazing!" I felt my face flush at my sudden comment. He chuckled before looking me in the eyes. "I'm serious, you have an amazing voice. One you should share with people." I was about to reply, when my phone went off. I grabbed my phone and jumped up once I saw the time. "Shit,I was supposed to bring the girls home an hour ago. I have to go, like right now." I said packing up the girls' things quickly. Zander stayed on the couch for a second, in shock before getting up and helping. I ran out of the shop before even getting a chance to say goodbye.


	2. Chapter 2

That had been two weeks ago. I hadn't seen him since, yet he didn't leave my mind. I didn't have an excuse to go to the cafe, as the girls were off school for the summer, and Jeanne was skiing with her family in the Alps. When I realised it had been a week since we met, and that he had most likely gone back to New York, I felt a little depressed. I never got his last name, so it was usless trying to find him through facebook. I resigned to the fact that I would probably never see him again.

I was so caught up in all this that I almost forgot that my time au-pairing with the Savonne family had finished and that I was going on the 'Trip of a Lifetime' with my bestfriend, Nelson. I had known Nelson all my life, we had gone to primary school together, but when we were nine, his dad got a job in Galway, on the other side of the country. It was hard to not see him everyday, but since Ireland was so small, it took only three hours by car to get from one side of the country to the other, so we saw eachother every few months. It actually brought us closer together. I was devistated when he told me his family had to move to Dubai when we were fourteen. He left just before our birthdays, (we were both born on the 25th August, only me a year earlier) and I havn't seen him since. Sure we talked for hours and skyped every now and then, but it wasn't the same as seeing him in person. We had planned a huge reunion for this summer, only he actually never told me exactly where. It wasn't until yesterday, when I got an email with a plane ticket to New York attached that I found out that our reunion was taking place in America, spending a week in New York, before going to Bostin, and finally, Orlando, in time for our birthdays.

Zander's POV

It's been two weeks since I met Stevie. Two weeks, three days, four hours and twenty-seven minutes to be exact but who's counting. I had never met anyone like her before. She was cute, smart, funny and a boss on the ukelele. When she left the cafe that day, I didn't know what to do. I went back to the cafe everyday,but she never came. It was like she vanished. I planned to ask the waitress behind the counter for her number or something, but she never showed either. I was reluctant to leave the following weekend, and my friend and roommate Kevin had to quite literally drag me onto the plane. Back in New York, I still couldn't get her off my mind. The smell of her hair, her eyes, her voice. I couldn't look at my uke without remembering our almost moment.

Kevin tried to get me to look at other girls, bringing me clubbing, and setting me up on double dates with him and his girlfriend Kacey's friends, with no luck. Kacey was daughter of one of the many socialites of Manhatten, she was filthy rich, and her father had recently given her the project of managing one of many holiday rental apartment blocks he owned. Her friends were rich and fake, the opposite of Stevie. The dates had been torturous. I begged them to stop after a particularly bad date with a girl named Molly, she was so fake and full of herself I had to hold back the urge to slap her across the face for the whole night.

They had given up, and we called a truce. We decided to hold a pizza night to honour the 'occasion'. We kept it small, just Kevin, Kacey and her best friend Grace and myself. We planned to stay up watching some old classics, while stuffing our faces. At around lunchtime we got a call from Kacey saying that she was bringing some of her guests from the apartments with her, she said that they were around our age, and she just clicked with them when they arrived a few days ago and invited them on a night out, forgetting about her previous engagment. We said that it was fine, as long as they could keep up with the sheer amount of corny movie lines and scenes that were about to get thrown at them.

We had the apartment set up, and everyone was there, bar Kacey and her mystery guests. I jumped up when I heard the door. I opened the door to see a tower of pizzas, held by a pair of perfectly manicured nails that could only belong to Kacey. The doorframe was narrow, and I couldn't get a proper view of the two guests she had brought with her. I took the pizzas from Kacey, and told them to go into the living room. I couldn't see anything from behind the pizza boxes so I guessed I would do all the introductions after I got rid of them. As one of the mystery guests passed me, I got a whiff of a familiar smell I had grown to cherish. The smell nearly made me drop the pizzas, but I covered it up before placing the pizzas down on the table. I turned around and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw who Kacey's mystery guests were.


	3. Chapter 3

Hi guys, so heres chapter 3... sorry I took so long updating but I have had a really busy few days, and I'm only going to get busier. I have state exams coming up in a month, and really need to study for them, so the next chapter might be a little delayed... Sorry again and I'll try and keep yous all up to date on the story. Oh and thank you for the reveiws, they were really sweet and I love getting feedback from you guys! Bye!

Stevie's POV

We hadn't been in New York for more than an hour before we were befriended by the

very excentric Kacey Simon, or our landlord. She hardly looked like a landlord, dressed in what can only be described as New York fasion. She was the same age as myself, and we surprisingly got on quite well. She asked us what had brought us to New York, and after giving her our backstory, she insisted that Nelson and I accomplany her on a true New York night out. I was a bit wary, but Nelson agreed, saying what could be the worst that could happen. We soon learned that the crazy night out on the town was a pizza night at her boyfriend's apartment, which suited us fine.

When we arrived at the apartment, I couldn't initially see inside, due to the massive stack of pizzas Kacey was holding. Once who I believed to be her boyfriend took them, we walked inside. I couldn't see who the guy was due to the pizza boxes, but his voice was awfully familiar. I walked into the living room to see a few people. Kacey was now sitting on another boys lap, giving him a quick peck on the lips. Her boyfriend obviously. The other was a very pretty blonde, who was waving nervously at... Nelson? Pizza boy finally turned around and I almost fainted when my eyes locked on to the chocolate coloured pools that belongs to...

"Zander?" I asked cautiously.

"Stevie?" He asked taking a step closer, a very big grin threatening to make its way across his face. I found myself smiling too, before being lifted into a huge bear hug by Zander. "I thought I'de never see you again", he said putting me down, keeping his arms wrapped around my shoulders. "Same here." I looked up into his familiar eyes, seeing a mix of emotions. After a moment, he began to lean in, much like the incident in the cafe. I began to lean in aswell, but was stopped by someone clearing their thought. We both turned around, seeing our friends staring at us like we were mad. From the corner of my eye I saw Zander give Kacey's boyfriend, who was the one to clear his throught, a semi-dirty look. "You two, um, know eachother?" Nelson asked, giving me a look.

We spent the next half hour explaining to them how we met while I was still au-pairing in France, leaving out the almost kiss and post-meeting depression. We were sitting on the couch, the same position as the cafe, still not knowing the meaning of personal space. After everyone got to know eachother, an insane amount of flirting between Nelson and the blonde, who I later learned was named Grace, and half the stack of pizzas, we put on the first movie. Kacey and Kevin had claimed the oversized beanbag. Nelson and Grace sat awkwardly on the loveseat, while Zander and I shared the couch. Halfway throgh the movie, I felt Zander's arm on my shoulder. I smiled to myself before resting my head in his chest.

I woke up the next morning, panicking slightly when I didn't recognise my surroundings. I tried to sit up, before realising that it was nearly imposible due to the strong arm wrapped arond my waist. I looked behind me to see Zander, sleeping soundly, with a smile on his face. I carefully removed his arm from around my waist, before sitting up. Zander's body shifted, but his eyes stayed closed. I took my phone out to check the time, and realised that Nelson and I were really far behind on our sightseeing. I walked over to Nelson, shaking him up. "Come on, we have to go now, we're supposed to be on a boat on the river right now!" I say, causing Nelson to jerk up, before looking longingly at a sleeping Grace. I wrote a quick note, before grabbing my jacket and following Noah out of the apartment.

Zander's POV

I woke up from a sound sleep to feel slightly empty. Had I dreamt it all? There was no sign of Stevie or Nelson anywhere. I stepped over the empty pizza boxes and cushions trying to remember what had happened. I remembered seeing Stevie again, holding her in my arms, her falling asleep on my shoulder, but where did she go? I was about to think that I was going mad when I folded piece of paper caught my eye. I walked over to the table, sitting down, holding the note in my hands. I took a breath before reading the note.

Sorry for leaving without saying goodbye, but Nelson and I are really behind on our whole sightseeing. Thanks for the amazing night first night in New York :)

Stevie x

At least I didn't imagion it, but still no way to contact her. I will have to pay more attention to Kacey and find out where the apartments are. I began to clean up the apartment, as everyone else slowly woke up one by one. Once we were all awake, and the apartment was clean we decided to go out for breakfast. I noticed Grace had the same look I presume I had when I woke up.

Once we got to the diner, everyone turned to look at me. They all were wearing the same crazy look. "Soooooo, what was going on with you and Stevie last night?" Kacey asked, wiggleing her eyebrows as they all leaned across the table to hear, I gulped before starting. "What are you talking about, we're just friends. I got excited when I saw her because I thought I wouldn't see her again. We're just friends!" I said, hoping they wouldn't see through the lie. Not my lucky day. "Oh shut up, you _like_ her, like like her. We saw you two on the couch, and it's quite clear neither of you know the meaning of personal space. And what about the two of you almost about to make out when you saw each other. You like her, don't try to deny it." Kacey really should think of going down the road of law, she is very good at getting her points across, and I have to admit, speaking the truth. "Okay, I like her, but what can I do? I don't have her number, and I don't even know if she likes me back. She's in New York, probably forgotten about me already." I say, looking into my empty glass. "That's not true, and she so likes you back! And newsflash, I have all her details including her phone number." Kacey said as our food arrived. "Ring her now and ask her if she wants to do something tonight." She finished, handing me her phone. "And ask if Nelson wants to go out as well!" Grace shouts before going beet red. We all laugh as I scroll down to Stevie's number. I take a deep breath before hitting the call button. "Put it on speaker!" Kevin shouts, right before Stevie picks up.


End file.
